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  <section id="interface-link-libraries">
<span id="prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES"></span><h1>INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES<a class="headerlink" href="#interface-link-libraries" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>List public interface libraries for a library.</p>
<p>This property contains the list of transitive link dependencies.  When
the target is linked into another target using the
<span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_link_libraries"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../command/target_link_libraries.html#command:target_link_libraries" title="target_link_libraries"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_libraries()</span></code></a> command, the libraries listed (and
recursively their link interface libraries) will be provided to the
other target also.  This property is overridden by the
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES.html#prop_tgt:LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES" title="LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES</span></code></a> or
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_&lt;CONFIG&gt;"></span><a class="reference internal" href="LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_CONFIG.html#prop_tgt:LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_&lt;CONFIG&gt;" title="LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_&lt;CONFIG&gt;"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_&lt;CONFIG&gt;</span></code></a> property if policy
<span class="target" id="index-0-policy:CMP0022"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0022.html#policy:CMP0022" title="CMP0022"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0022</span></code></a> is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">OLD</span></code> or unset.</p>
<p>The value of this property is used by the generators when constructing
the link rule for a dependent target.  A dependent target's direct
link dependencies, specified by its <span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:LINK_LIBRARIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="LINK_LIBRARIES.html#prop_tgt:LINK_LIBRARIES" title="LINK_LIBRARIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code></a> target
property, are linked first, followed by indirect dependencies from the
transitive closure of the direct dependencies'
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code> properties.  See policy <span class="target" id="index-1-policy:CMP0022"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../policy/CMP0022.html#policy:CMP0022" title="CMP0022"><code class="xref cmake cmake-policy docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMP0022</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>Contents of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code> may use &quot;generator expressions&quot;
with the syntax <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">$&lt;...&gt;</span></code>.  See the <span class="target" id="index-0-manual:cmake-generator-expressions(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#manual:cmake-generator-expressions(7)" title="cmake-generator-expressions(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-generator-expressions(7)</span></code></a>
manual for available expressions.  See the <span class="target" id="index-0-manual:cmake-buildsystem(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#manual:cmake-buildsystem(7)" title="cmake-buildsystem(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-buildsystem(7)</span></code></a>
manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>A call to <span class="target" id="index-1-command:target_link_libraries"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../command/target_link_libraries.html#command:target_link_libraries" title="target_link_libraries(&lt;target&gt; ...)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_libraries(&lt;target&gt;</span> <span class="pre">...)</span></code></a> may update this
property on <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code>.  If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code> was not created in the same
directory as the call then <span class="target" id="index-2-command:target_link_libraries"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../command/target_link_libraries.html#command:target_link_libraries" title="target_link_libraries"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_libraries()</span></code></a> will wrap each
entry with the form <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">::&#64;(directory-id);...;::&#64;</span></code>, where the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">::&#64;</span></code> is
literal and the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">(directory-id)</span></code> is unspecified.
This tells the generators that the named libraries must be looked up in
the scope of the caller rather than in the scope in which the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code> was created.  Valid directory ids are stripped on export
by the <span class="target" id="index-0-command:install"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../command/install.html#export" title="install(export)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">install(EXPORT)</span></code></a> and <span class="target" id="index-0-command:export"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../command/export.html#command:export" title="export"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">export()</span></code></a> commands.</p>
</div>
<p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code> adds transitive link dependencies for a
target's dependents.  In advanced use cases, one may update the
direct link dependencies of a target's dependents by using the
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT"></span><a class="reference internal" href="INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT" title="INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT</span></code></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE" title="INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE</span></code></a> target properties.</p>
<section id="handling-compiler-driver-differences">
<h2>Handling Compiler Driver Differences<a class="headerlink" href="#handling-compiler-driver-differences" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 4.0.</span></p>
</div>
<p>To pass options to the linker tool, each compiler driver has its own syntax.
The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINKER:</span></code> prefix and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">,</span></code> separator can be used to specify, in a portable
way, options to pass to the linker tool. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINKER:</span></code> is replaced by the
appropriate driver option and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">,</span></code> by the appropriate driver separator.
The driver prefix and driver separator are given by the values of the
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LANG_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG.html#variable:CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG" title="CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG</span></code></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_LANG_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP.html#variable:CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP" title="CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_&lt;LANG&gt;_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP</span></code></a> variables.</p>
<p>For example, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;LINKER:-z,defs&quot;</span></code> becomes <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-Xlinker</span> <span class="pre">-z</span> <span class="pre">-Xlinker</span> <span class="pre">defs</span></code> for
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Clang</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-Wl,-z,defs</span></code> for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">GNU</span> <span class="pre">GCC</span></code>.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINKER:</span></code> prefix supports, as an alternative syntax, specification of
arguments using the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SHELL:</span></code> prefix and space as separator. The previous
example then becomes <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&quot;LINKER:SHELL:-z</span> <span class="pre">defs&quot;</span></code>.</p>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>Specifying the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SHELL:</span></code> prefix anywhere other than at the beginning of the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LINKER:</span></code> prefix is not supported.</p>
</div>
</section>
<section id="creating-relocatable-packages">
<h2>Creating Relocatable Packages<a class="headerlink" href="#creating-relocatable-packages" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>Note that it is not advisable to populate the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code> of a target with absolute paths to dependencies.
That would hard-code into installed packages the library file paths
for dependencies <strong>as found on the machine the package was made on</strong>.</p>
<p>See the <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-packages.7.html#creating-relocatable-packages"><span class="std std-ref">Creating Relocatable Packages</span></a> section of the
<span class="target" id="index-0-manual:cmake-packages(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-packages.7.html#manual:cmake-packages(7)" title="cmake-packages(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-packages(7)</span></code></a> manual for discussion of additional care
that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating
packages for redistribution.</p>
</section>
</section>


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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#handling-compiler-driver-differences">Handling Compiler Driver Differences</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#creating-relocatable-packages">Creating Relocatable Packages</a></li>
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